fucoxanthin weight loss

If you are fond of herbal weight loss then you’ll find an amount of information about Fucoxanthin  in the internet. It is a type of carotenoid that can be found naturally in edible brown seaweed hijiki (Hijikia fusiformis) and wakame (Undaria pinnatifida)). The brown seaweed is the richest source of fucoxanthin. Red seaweed and green seaweed contain much smaller amounts of it. So if you like Asian cuisine, miso soup or Japanese sushi rolls then fucoxanthin is in your dish.

You can easily find wakame and hijiki at Japanese specialty food stores or at some health food stores. Besides it’s not a problem to order them online. Fucoxanthin can also be found as a nutritional supplement in capsule form.

Although there are some studies about the influence of fucoxanthin on the weight loss, it’s not fully understood how it actually works. Fucoxanthin appears to target a protein UCP1 that increases the rate at which abdominal fat is burned. Abdominal fat (white adipose tissue) surrounds the organs and can cause diabetes and heart disease. Moreover, fucoxanthin stimulates the production of DHA (the omega-3 fatty acid that is found in such fish as salmon).

Nowadays fucoxanthin is quite popular as a nutritional supplement. But still more research is needed to determine if it will work in the same way in humans as it works in animals. So if the researches prove that it’s effective, then fucoxanthin could be developed into a diet pill for obesity.

As for the possible side effects of fucoxanthin, they aren’t known yet. Again, it happens because there hasn’t been much research on fucoxanthin in humans. Anyway, people shouldn’t consume large amounts of wakame or other types of seaweed as a source of fucoxanthin. Keep in mind that seaweed is rich in iodine and excessive consumption can cause the iodine poisoning. Moreover, high levels of iodine can interfere with the function of the thyroid gland. Besides consuming excess amounts of iodine-rich foods isn’t recommended if there is a known allergy or hypersensitivity to iodine.